Michael Rodd compared lightly-raced four-year-old Studley Park favourably with his Melbourne Cup winner Efficient when he overcame difficulties to easily win at Sandown.The gelding, a son of Zabeel as was Efficient, was blocked for a run halfway down the straight in Wednesday's Mittys Handicap (1600m).But once Rodd, standing in for the suspended Nick Hall, found a narrow gap on Studley Park ($1.95 fav), he sprinted quickly and went on to beat Darwin ($31) by two lengths with Buster McGee ($31) 1

Michael Rodd compared lightly-raced four-year-old Studley Park favourably with his Melbourne Cup winner Efficient when he overcame difficulties to easily win at Sandown.

The gelding, a son of Zabeel as was Efficient, was blocked for a run halfway down the straight in Wednesday's Mittys Handicap (1600m).

But once Rodd, standing in for the suspended Nick Hall, found a narrow gap on Studley Park ($1.95 fav), he sprinted quickly and went on to beat Darwin ($31) by two lengths with Buster McGee ($31) 1-1/4 lengths away third.

The horse has been patiently handled by Lloyd Williams Racing at Macedon Lodge having had only one previous start when Hall rode him to victory in a 1400m Ballarat maiden last month.

"In Nick Hall's absence I got to sit on a very good horse," Rodd, who won the 2006 Victoria Derby and 2007 Melbourne Cup aboard star stayer Efficient, said.

Rodd said Studley Park was probably more sensible than Efficient was in the early part of his racing career.

"I spoke to Lloyd this morning and he's very positive about the horse's future and said how much he's got to go still," Rodd said of Studley Park.

"He's a Zabeel but he's still very immature to look at. Mentally he's very mature but to do what he did at his second start in a race, to come to town against more experienced horses and win at this weight level ...

"And to take the gap that was very narrow - it's probably lucky that he is so skinny - because it was a very narrow gap but he didn't bat an eyelid. He went straight through it.

"The sky's the limit for this bloke."

Studley Park is out of the Redding mare Flushed who won six races including the 2001 Group Two Sunline Stakes (1600m) at Moonee Valley as well as two Listed races at Flemington, the 2000 Matriarch Stakes (2000m) and the 2001 Let's Elope Stakes (1400m).

Meanwhile, the Robert Smerdon-trained Shewan will head to Tasmania for either the Hobart Cup or the Launceston Cup following his win in the Betfair Hcp (2100m).

"There's not a lot of the horse. He doesn't carry a lot of condition so I'll leave it to Robert which race he goes for in Tasmania," assistant trainer Stuart Webb said.

The Group Three $300,000 Hobart Cup (2200m) is on February 13 while the $225,000 Launceston Cup (2400m) is on February 23.

Patiently ridden by Glen Boss, Shewan ($3) got up on the inside of Bolton ($2.70 fav) to beat that gelding by a head with Golago ($19) 3-3/4 lengths away third.

Bolton is also among the 35 nominations for the Hobart Cup along with his Lloyd Williams Racing stablemates Muir and Vesper.